One-and-a-half-year-old Sehun stumbled down on the floor as Baekhyun laughed at him; taking his hand and helping him stand up. Sehun had just started walking and honestly it was so precious to watch the little boy struggle to keep his two feet moving on the flat surface. Sehun took a bit longer to learn compared to the twins and Joonmyun, but Baekhyun had been nothing but patient with him.

 

“Come to umma, Sehunnie!” He sing-sang; giving his youngest son support as he took a few steps backward.

 

Sehun waddled again and his tiny arms stretched out for his mother and as he reached him Baekhyun immediately carried the little boy in his embrace.

 

“You’re so cute.” The brunette mother commented; kissing Sehun’s forehead.

 

“Umma… Luhannie gege…” Sehun chirped as he pointed with his tiny index finger and Baekhyun laughed. Ever since Sehun started walking, all he wanted to do was walk with Luhan; his best friend—Zitao’s son. The two are really close since Zitao practically visits everyday now; bringing a variety of presents for his youngest son.

 

Baekhyun turned to see what –or who—Sehun was pointing at and sure enough Zitao and Luhan were there; a basket of pastries with them.

 

“Sehunnie!”

 

“Luhan gege!”

 

Nine-year-old Luhan practically glomped on the little boy; who giggled. The sight was the most adorable thing both Baekhyun and Zitao had ever seen; although they had to admit that Kyungsoo and Jongin are adorable whenever together as well. But these days, Jongin had been bullying Kyungsoo because he’s almost taller than him.

 

“So Baekhyunnie, are we going to ring the wedding bells?” Zitao joked.

 

The two were sitting at the porch as they watched Luhan and Sehun play together; which is basically Luhan walking around and Sehun trying his best to catch him; but failed. Baekhyun took a crumpet from Zitao’s gift basket and plopped it in his mouth.

 

“For them?” He asked back; a glint of mischievousness in his eyes. His best friend nodded. “Well I’ll have to include that in my list. Joonmyun is already getting married to Yixing~ Haha. Chanyeol has been teasing him about it.”

 

“Did someone call my name?”

 

The two wives were surprised at the deep voice behind them; which belonged to the one and only Park Chanyeol.

 

Baekhyun immediately got up and pulled his husband for an embrace. “Hey, sweetie!”

 

“Hey yourself~” He kissed Baekhyun’s forehead. “Hey, Zitao.”

 

“Hey. Didn’t expect you to be back so early. Baekhyun said you had extra work to do after those days off you took.”

 

Chanyeol smiled at Zitao and ugh Baekhyun felt himself melting again. He didn’t even hear his husband inviting his best friend to dinner.

 

***

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” Yixing asked Joonmyun out of the blue that day. The two were at Yixing’s house; his garden to be exact. Yixing lives in a minimalistic house with three rooms; one for his father; Minseok, one for himself and the other for guests. He sometimes sleeps with his father; ever since his mother passed away his father had always had the habit of carrying him to his room once Yixing is asleep.

 

They just came back from school and Yixing invited joonmyun over for lunch; courtesy of Minseok. The boy immediately agreed once Minseok told him that he had talked to Chanyeol who happily gave him the permission.

 

They had pizza –the handmade one—because Yixing learned how to make one while he was in China. The kids put as much topping as they wanted and ate them while watching TV. Both Yixing and Joonmyun are nature people; they like watching the Animal Planet and go to the zoo.

 

“I don’t know. What about you?” Joonmyun answered back; eyes slightly closed.

 

“A doctor.”

 

“Why? Science is hard. You have to learn about those weird liquids in bottles and pills that taste bad.”

 

“But I want to safe lives… Like mama’s…” Yixing mumbled the last line and Joonmyun could hear silent sobbing. He hugged his best friend and Minseok found them asleep about fifteen minutes later.

 

“Boys, wake up~” The man said with a cheerful tone. “You two need to take a shower; you’ve been sweating in school and your hair is covered with flour.”

 

Joonmyun woke up first; rubbing his eyes with his tiny hands and he shook Yixing awake; but failed.

 

“Yixing has always been quite a heavy sleeper…” Minseok voiced out.

 

“Oh! I know!”

 

The next thing he knew, Minseok saw Joonmyun kissing Yixing on the cheek. His son immediately woke up; face bright red.

 

“J –Joonmyunnie!”

 

“Heehee, I knew that would wake you up. Come on, your papa wants us to shower.”

 

Minseok took five minutes to regain his consciousness.  He had just witnessed one of the cutest things that ever happened in his life.

 

“Joonmyun’s parents are inviting us over for dinner with Kris shushu[1] and Zitao ayi[2], so go get ready; okay? I’m waiting for Joonmyun’s appa to send his clothes over.” He told his son in Chinese.

 

Spending time with Yixing had its perks; Joonmyun noted. He can actually understand what they’re saying now; although he can’t form a sentence of his own yet.

 

***

Kyungsoo wiped his tears away; a pout on his face. He fixed his mint green overalls and glared at the younger boy in front of him.

 

“Stop calling me little!”

 

“But Kyungie hyung is smaller than me~” Jongin said; a grin plastered on his face.

 

“Jonginnie is being mean!” The white-skinned boy ran to his father; who was busy reading the Newspapers.

 

“Kyungsoo, he’s only joking; all right?” Kris said warmly; patting his son’s head. Kyungsoo pouted even more.

 

“He says I’m short!”

 

“Well, he is taller than you…”

 

Kyungsoo was about to cry when he felt a pair of arms; slightly longer than his; hugging him from the back.

 

“Jonginnie is sorry, hyungie~”

 

“Hmph!”

 

“Kyunggie hyung~”

 

“Fine! But you’re a meanie and I won’t share my cookies with you!”

 

Kris laughed at the silliness of the two boys. He had promised Zitao to watch over them for his wife wanted to visit Baekhyun and Sehun with Luhan. Jongin was sent over (with a bag of clothes) by Chanyeol to play with Kyungsoo before he delivers clothes for Joonmyun in Minseok’s house.

 

He and Chanyeol had a good relationship; they were really great friends. And lately they have been hanging out with Minseok too; who eventually became an addition to the gang. Baekhyun and Zitao are best friends as well; making all the parents close to each other.

 

He turned around to see Kyungsoo sharing his cookies with Jongin and wanted to cry at the cuteness. No; Kris never admits it, but he finds his and his friends’ children so cute that he wanted to squish all of them.

 

Because that would be creepy and Zitao will punch him for sounding like a e.

 

An hour later, he told Kyungsoo and Jongin to take a bath because they were going to have dinner in Jongin’s house. It had been a while since their last gathering; Baekhyun and Chanyeol had been busy with their new son Sehun that they hardly have time to go anywhere. Chanyeol took two months off of work to help Baekhyun with the housework. Kris is the head of Wu Production; Park Enterprise’s business partner. Unlike Chanyeol; his father gave him the company. It originally manufactures in China, but Kris moved it to Seoul in order to be able to work closer with Park Enterprise. He enjoys working with Chanyeol; the man was easy to work with and always had good ideas. He admired Chanyeol’s persistence and—

 

“Papa your phone is ringing!”

 

Kyungsoo’s voice broke Kris’ string of thoughts.

 

“Whoops. It’s your mama. Go take a shower or I’ll tell her you’re still dirty and she’ll get angry and won’t let you play with Jongin!” He joked to his younger son; who immediately panicked and pulled Jongin’s arm upstairs to his room.

 

“Kris!”

 

“Hey, baby. Where are you?”

 

Kris could practically see Zitao smile from the other line. “At Baekhyun’s of course. Luhan is asleep with Sehun but Baekhyun is waking them up now. Are Kyungsoo and Jongin ready? Did they shower?”

 

“They’re still bathing.” The Chinese man wanted to laugh at his wife’s endless questions. Zitao was really the kind of person who wants everything to be perfect.

 

“Then you should too! Go now!”

 

“All right, I’ll see you later then~ I love you.”

 

Once again; Zitao’s smile was visible in Kris’ head. “I love you too baby; you know that already; right?”

 

***

“Kyungsoo hyung, why is your skin so white?” Jongin asked once him and Kyungsoo are in the bathtub; bubbles covering them. A small yellow rubber duckie was floating on the surface.

 

“My mama is white, so I’m white too. Luhan gege is white too~”

 

“I’m dark like my appa.” Jongin said cheerfully. “Which is good! You can be the ‘yin’ and I will be your ‘yang!’”

 

“’Yin’? ‘Yang’? What’s that?”

 

“Oh, so mommy once told me a story about two lovers. They were tied together with Yin and Yang; which means ‘light’ and ‘shadow.’ Mommy said that they were inseparable!”

 

Kyungsoo’s eyes twinkled at his friend’s words. “Okay then! I will be your ‘yang’ but you can’t be anyone else’s ‘yin’ okay?”

 

***

Jongdae woke up to realize that his twin brother Jongin wasn’t there anymore. The bag of clothes for his hyung that was supposed to be on the front seat was not there either. He rubbed his eyes and cocked his head to see his appa driving.

 

“Hey kiddo!” Chanyeol greeted. “You’re finally awake.”

 

“Where’s Jongin?” Jongdae asked; voice still dreamy.

 

“He’s at Kyungsoo hyung’s house. We’re going home to get ready for the dinner tonight; all right?”

 

“Okay…”

 

The older twin sat back on his seat; looking outside the window. Poor Jongdae; Chanyeol thought. Jongin has Kyungsoo to play with and Sehun has Luhan. Joonmyun has Yixing. He must be lonely… But it’s not like Jongdae minded. True; he fights a lot with Jongin and is always noisy when together but he liked being alone. He usually just sits there in his room; looking at books and drawing houses and airplanes.

 

“Jongdae-yah?” He decided to call out.

 

“Yes, appa?”

 

“Are you lonely?”

 

The little boy paused; as if thinking and Chanyeol patiently waited.

 

“Not really.”

 

“What do you mea—“

 

“I have you and umma and Sehunnie and hyung and Jonginnie. Why would I be lonely?”

 

“You know… Jongin has been playing with Kyungsoo hyung a lot lately.”

 

“I’ve been helping umma taking care of Sehunnie.”

 

And at that moment Chanyeol smiled. Little did he know, Jongdae had matured so much. He still fights with Jongin but Jongdae learns to apologize first. He also shares his toys with his brothers and doesn’t bully Joonmyun anymore. Chanyeol then suspected that it was because of the birth of Sehun. Jongdae had become more responsible. He’s almost seven now and the Jongdae one-and-a-half year ago definitely wasn’t the same as this one.

 

So Chanyeol didn’t answer. He stayed silent; a smile still plastered on his face.

 

***

That night, everyone gathered in Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s house; the garden to be exact. The smell of barbequed meat could be tasted through the air. Working his skillful hands on the grill; Kris wiped his sweat; his pores were absorbing the heat from the fire. Minseok stood next to him; the height difference more obvious. The two were talking about how the market is back in China; Minseok is a journalist and his job requires him to travel quite often; however he had recently agreed to write a research paper for Wu Production. Yixing was especially glad because he wouldn’t have to skip so many school days anymore; unless his papa wants them to visit his grandparents in China.

 

Zitao was cheerfully talking to Baekhyun while eating cupcakes that they baked earlier –Luhan helped decorating with the icing and wrote names and drew small faces for everyone while Sehun was watching happily. They were discussing the kids’ next school holiday; Zitao suggested that they all go to Vancouver, Canada, to explore more about the Western culture as well as visiting Kris’ parents. Baekhyun agreed; he even asked –no; forced—Chanyeol to beg Minseok to go as well; and the man finally agreed seeing how happy Yixing was when he heard the news.

 

Joonmyun, Yixing and Kyungsoo were helping the parents by setting up the table with small paper plates and cups; Sehun was in charge of putting one straw in each cup while Luhan followed him to make sure he didn’t do it wrong. It was cute to see Sehun waddle around.

 

Jongin and Jongdae –surprisingly –were helping Chanyeol with the s’mores; Baekhyun’s requested desert of the night. They were busy in the kitchen and from his porch Baekhyun could see Jongin and Jongdae laughing with chocolate all over their hands and face. Chanyeol laughed with them.

 

“Aw~ So cute.” Zitao commented; snapping Baekhyun back to reality. “Your sons aren’t as naughty as you describe them, you know.”

 

“They’re being surprisingly cooperative today.” Baekhyun commented. “Which is rare.”

 

The raven-haired sighed. “Kris and I don’t really do those things with Kyungsoo and Luhan; we’re too much of a proper family.”

 

“Do what? Play around with chocolate?”

 

“I guess… Kris is pretty strict sometimes.”

 

“But your sons are wonderful. They don’t argue and scream and shout.”

 

“I know… But I want some spice sometimes. The house doesn’t really feel alive now that Luhan and Kyungsoo are getting older and older.”

 

Baekhyun patted his friend’s back. “Don’t worry, Zitao. You have me; remember?”

 

“Hmmm…”

 

“Have you considered having another child?”

 

“Nah, it’s too much work for me. Unlike you and your unlimited free time, I have so much to do. Kris doesn’t have time to help me with house duties. In fact, the kids have been helping me.”

 

Baekhyun nodded; understanding what Zitao meant. Kris can be categorized as a Work-a-holic sometimes; even Chanyeol said so. Unlike Kris; Chanyeol is super laid-back and he does his work happily. When he’s in a bad mood, he takes a break and spends some quality time with the people he loves. But Baekhyun knew Zitao loved him anyway; he even said so himself in his wedding vows years ago.

 

“Zitao, would you like to say anything to your husband-to-be?”

 

“I just want to let you know that I love everything about you; I just can’t emphasize this enough. I love the way you would call me at work just to tell me that you love me; although we both know that’s not necessary because I know that you do. I love how you sometimes cry and apologize to be due to the fact that you’ve been so busy with work that we couldn’t go on out regular dates. I’m glad that you’re so devoted to your work; I wouldn’t worry about being hungry or how to feed our kids in the future, haha. I love the fact that you want to set aside some time for me after we get married. You don’t have to; I’ll love you no matter what. I’m glad that you asked me to marry you; and I’m even more glad I said yes.”

 

Baekhyun giggled at the thought of Zitao’s wedding vow back then during his wedding day with Kris. Zitao gave him a strange look but shrugged it off.

 

***

After dinner, everyone had some s’mores that Chanyeol and the twins made. Luhan fed Sehun (after the sixth s’more which had its marshmallows melt on Sehun thighs and all over his baby blue shorts due to the fact that he was just a little bit too excited and took a gigantic bite every time) as well as eating one himself; enjoying the melting chocolate. Kyungsoo ate the crackers; he’s not really fond of marshmallows because they are a bit too sticky for his liking and fed the insides of the sweet treat to Jongin; who ate them happily. Jongdae sat beside them and ate silently; devouring his hard-working end results with a small smile. Yixing sat next to him and wiped the excess chocolate off of his cat-like lips.

 

Joonmyun on the other hand, was walking around; offering the chocolate-y desert to the parents; who took them gladly. After everyone received a piece (or three for Minseok and four for Chanyeol and Baekhyun), he sat near Yixing and ate a s’more that he saved for himself.

 

It was around 9.30PM when Sehun fell asleep in Luhan’s embrace. Baekhyun giggled and carried his son as Luhan followed them to the little boy’s room.

 

“Mommy… Sleepy…” Zitao also noticed Kyungsoo yawning and carried him as they went inside the house.

 

Jongin and Jongdae had fallen asleep on top of the blanket they were sitting on earlier and Chanyeol carried them one by one to their shared bedroom.

 

Joonmyun and Yixing who were still awake decided to help Kris and Minseok clean up; and were later joined by Chanyeol.

 

“Another tough day, eh kiddo?” Minseok asked Yixing; who was piling up the paper plates before dumping in inside the giant trash bag his dad was carrying.

 

“U-huh.” Yixing nodded; sleepiness can be detected in the way he rubbed his eyes and hummed his response.

 

“But you had fun; right?”

 

“U-huh.”

 

Yixing turned to look at his best friend Joonmyun who was helping Chanyeol gather small bits of tissues on the grass. “I had a lot of fun.”

 

That smile. Minseok loved to see his son smiling. His research paper for Kris is almost done and he knew that would make Yixing sad; for that would mean they would start travelling again. And he wondered. He wondered how his response would be once he told him that he had withdrawn from his previous job and decided to work in Wu Production.

 

“Papa, why are you smiling like that?”

 

“Oh nothing…”

 

A/N: it's finally done! sorry i took so long and thanks to all the lovely subscribers <3 i'm so happy. comment please? and tell me if you want side stories because i will gladly write them!  im currently sick and i cant really think but i do hope this is good enough... saranghae :3

 

Word count: 3002 words